town, Gateshead metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Tyne. The town grew rapidly at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century with the extension of coal mining and later with the expansion of riverside industries such as shipbuilding and the manufacture of glass and heavy chemicals. New light industries later offset declining employment in the traditional staple industries. Pop. (2001) 34,196.